179 Mother Knows Best

179 Mother Knows Best

After I shared a couple more anecdotes about my close calls with death, we reached the apartment building and went up the stairs to my home. I asked Toshinori to wait on the step for a moment as I entered the apartment to greet my mother. I had barely opened the door when my mother's scream blew past me and made my guest wince.

“MY BABY!” Inko Midoriya yelled and tackled me. Since she was barely just over 5 feet tall and quite pudgy, I barely felt her impact and easy caught her. “What happened? Why are your clothes all torn and dirty?”

I glanced down at the sorry state of my clothes and sighed, then told her about my run-in with the slime villain. Inko looked horrified and started fussing over me as she started stripping me out of my clothes. I had to stop her and then introduced the man on the doorstep as the man that helped me today.

Inko thanked him profusely and invited him inside, which Toshinori reluctantly accepted. He was served tea and snacks and I went to my room to change. I tossed the ruined clothes in the garbage and left my backpack beside the bed. I grabbed a change of clothes and went to the bathroom to have a shower and looked into the mirror.

The mop of green hair on my head made me wince at the mess. I was definitely changing that as soon as I was clean. A few spells helped me get the slime gunk out from under my fingernails and I scrubbed the rest off the normal way. Magic was great for that; but, nothing beat a good hot shower to relax your tense muscles.

I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off as I stared at myself in the mirror. Goddamn, I missed seeing myself looking normal after so long being stick thin or short. I had dealt with it as much as I could and I survived, so it was a relief to finally be back in the body I had started this whole adventure out with.

I stepped close to the mirror and stared at my rounded face and didn't like it. I faded the freckles slightly and changed my huge round eyes to be smaller and more expressive. I also fixed my nose to not be so pointed and made my mouth a little smaller. I couldn't change too much right away, not without Inko seeing the differences.

I enlarged my clothes and put them on, then shrunk them to fit better. I left them a little baggy to hide how muscular I was and left the bathroom to go to the living room. I called for a taxi and Toshinori thanked me, thanked my mother, and left like his ass was on fire.

“He was an odd but nice man.” Inko said and she narrowed her eyes at me. “What aren't you telling me about today, Izuku? You know you can't lie to me.”

I opened my mouth to say I probably could lie, only to go over Izuku's memories again. Mind Blank let me remove all internal and external influences and I had to agree with her. Inko always knew it when her son lied. Always. Which brought forth all the times Izuku came home hurt and she she knew it was Bakugo that was doing it.

“I'm sorry I never told you about the bullying, mom.” I said. “It's been happening since I was four and never got my quirk. I always thought my best friend would smarten up and accept me for who I was and he never did.”

Inko eyes teared up and she walked over to me to hug me. “My baby.” She whispered and cried into my chest. “I'm sorry, too. I tried to talk to Mizuki and she just brushed it off as boys being boys and carrying on.”

It was such a strong statement I was reminded of how Uncle Vernon had said the exact same thing when Dudley played a bit too rough with me. It was also what he said in the canon story as well to cover up Dudley's excessive bullying.

I sighed and hugged her close and pet her hair. “It's going to be all right now, mom.”

“Wh-why? Why would it be?” Inko asked, still crying.

“I saved the idiot's life today and my latent power manifested afterwards.” I said, completely truthfully. I wasn't going to share the details, however.

Inko gasped and lifted her head from my tear-soaked shirt. “Wh-what did you say?”

“I saved Bakugo...” I started to answer.

“Not that!” Inko interrupted me. “About your power!”

“Ah, let me just...” I looked around and saw the couch that would be a great example. I reached down and grabbed the leg and lifted the entire couch up with no effort at all, thanks to my using the levitation spell to keep it steady.

Inko's mouth dropped open and she stared at the couch. After a few seconds of me holding the couch like it was nothing, because it was, she finally looked at me. “H-how?”

“It takes a long time for the Power Stockpiling power to build up enough energy to be used.” I said, also completely truthfully. I just wouldn't clarify that it wasn't me that gathered that power.

Inko's tears flowed as she hugged me again. “I'm s-so h-h-happy for y-you, Izuku!”

“Thanks, mom.” I said and put the couch down and hugged her with both arms.

Inko blushed and pushed me away. “You need to hurry or you'll be late.”

I smiled and went to my room to grab my repaired backpack and went to the front door to put on my shoes. They were real shoes, fully polished and everything, and not the old red sneakers. Those were the old Izuku's favorite and not mine. Comfortable or not, they violated the school's dress code and made him stand out from everyone else.

I left the apartment and walked down the stairs to the street and thought about using my powers to get to school, then shrugged. The laws had to be followed and I wasn't allowed to use them without a license, which I would have to get as soon as possible. I went over Izuku's memories and sighed at one of the requirements was to be enrolled in a hero academy and have a teacher's recommendation.

Well, I knew I was getting neither for at least the next 10 months, so I had a lot of waiting around to go through to legally use my powers. I wasn't going to wait that long if anything happened near me, though. I just had to be careful and maybe make a costume to become a vigilante. There were lots of criminals around to deal with on the down-low and laundered money to steal.

School had to be handled first, so I made my way along my normal route and managed to avoid all the pratfalls and little accidents that would have my uniform damaged, dirtied, or roughed up. I was mentally calling bullshit on my Blessing of Fortune when I barely managed to avoid a local gang of street kids that were hunting for fresh recruits.

Come on! The odds are supposed to be in my favor, not throwing everything at me! I shouted in my mind and a feeling of calm fell over me. I didn't believe it for a second and listened to my gut instinct. My danger sense went off again and I stepped back from the edge of the curb and pulled an old lady with me.

The old woman turned to glare at me and opened her mouth to shout, then a truck's horn blared and the front bumper clipped her cane as it just missed taking out our legs from underneath us. She looked at her broken cane in shock and then looked at my calm face.

“Let me get that for you.” I said and took the cane, used some transfiguration, and handed back an ergonomic masterpiece that had a strong base that could easily hold her weight and she didn't have to lift it as much. It was lighter, too. I had emptied the inside and filled it with crosshatched supports instead.

The old lady stared at her very different cane and I helped her cross the street when it was safe. I left her there at the street corner and she only had eyes for the new cane that she could probably sell for a good amount of cash to the right buyer.

I chuckled at the thought of doing that myself, only I didn't really have the time to attend an auction or anything of the sort. I had school during the day and chores in the evenings with schoolwork and other things at night. In other words, my days were too full to gallivant off to wherever and hope the things I made would sell for a good price.

I reached the school and almost no one looked at me, except for a few of the older girls. One of them was clearly a Gyaru, a girl that was a part of the Japanese subculture and fashion style characterized by an over-the-top westernized feminine look and frivolous behavior, like partying at clubs and hanging out at the mall for no reason.

She wore some showy clothing and her red bra straps were visible, as was her heavily-tanned belly under her billowy cropped top that swayed in the breeze. Her hair was either bleached or dyed to platinum blonde as well and she wore too much makeup that made her face stand out and washed out her natural beauty. She made the look work for her, though.

“Are you getting a good enough look?” She commented when she noticed me staring at her.

The old Izuku would have been a stuttering mess from being asked that. I was a much different beast, however. “Sorry about that, Yuzuko. I was just admiring your attention to detail.”

The girls around her looked surprised and the girl herself looked intrigued.

“How do you know my name? Have we met before?” Yuzuko asked and tapped her lips as if she was thinking.

I had to chuckle at my Danger Sense buzzing slightly and chose to avoid answering her directly. “We've been going to school together since we were five.” I said and walked by her and her group.

“Hey, wait! I'd remember a hunk like you if I ever saw you!” She called out. “What's your name?”

I ignored her shouts and entered the school building. I knew Bakugo's normal hangouts and avoided them, relying on my Danger Sense to keep me out of trouble. I made it to the classroom and sat in my seat, only it was a bit too small. No one else was around and a quick check with a detection spell showed there were no cameras or people around, so I expanded the desk by 20%.

I sat down comfortably and reclined slightly as I set my backpack on the floor by my feet. Today was going to be a trying one when everyone figured out who I was. It was funny how no one recognized me with my hair cut differently and my freckles faded slightly. I would get rid of them completely over the next few weeks and I would finish adjusting my facial features over the next few months.

As I sat there and thought over what I could do to get some quick cash, the classroom started filling up with the other students. Again, no one really connected the taller buffer guy and the new haircut with the old Deku that they all knew and despised.

When the bell rang, only a few of the students looked over at me and their eyes widened when they realized who I was. Bakugo was not one of them as he kept his eyes firmly pointed towards the front of the room and kept whispering about how he never needed to be saved by a stupid Deku.

It wasn't until lunchtime and the bell rang when everyone started talking, well shouted really, and asking me all sorts of stupid questions. I ignored them all and grabbed my backpack and left the room before Bakugo could turn and see what the fuss was about. I made it to the cafeteria and brought out my lunch from my inventory, using my backpack as a medium, and sat down and started eating.